In a letter to the CBO, Yarmuth requested a report on the “design and policy considerations lawmakers would face in developing single-payer health system proposals.”

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Getting input from the CBO is an important step forward for consideration of single-payer health care, sometimes also known as "Medicare for all." The idea has gained new momentum with Democrats taking control of the House.

Yarmuth, on the other hand, is not requesting an analysis of a specific bill, so it will not carry a headline cost number the way a score of Sanders’s bill would. Instead, Yarmuth is looking for information on various important decisions Democrats will have to make on single-payer.

The CBO report is a precursor to hearings in the Budget Committee.

"The House Budget Committee will soon schedule hearings to review potential ways to achieve affordable, high-quality health care coverage for everyone, including Medicare for All,” Yarmuth said in a statement. “To begin that work, I have requested that the Congressional Budget Office provide a report on the design considerations that policymakers should consider in developing proposals to establish a single-payer system in the United States.”